Give Me A Break, Gavin | Opinion

By any reasonable measure, Gavin Newsom’s recent remarks in South Carolina reveal his obvious inability to be a strong and decisive leader. 

The July 7th deadline just passed for the California Department of Education and California Interscholastic Federation to sign the resolution agreement with the US Department of Education regarding Title IX and male participation in female sports. Instead of choosing to comply, both entities chose to double down on the status quo. Governor Newsom was asked about this during his "I’m probably running for president" swing through South Carolina.

"I struggled with the issue of fairness when it came to sports," he admitted. "And we tried to figure that out a couple of years ago, and we were unsuccessful, and we struggled with that recently."

California Governor Gavin Newsom. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The statement is so feeble, it’s hard to believe it was said during a trip to test the presidential waters. The words represent abdication and surrender dressed up as compassion.

Newsom does not inspire confidence when he says "I struggled...we tried to figure it out...we were unsuccessful" about something as simple as not allowing male athletes to compete against females in sports. That struggle should have ended the moment Gavin remembered why, in 1972, Congress passed Title IX in the first place.

His comments continued with a quick pivot: "And my position is that I don’t think it’s fair, but I also think it’s demeaning to talk down to people, and to belittle the trans community. And I don’t like the way the right wing talks about the trans community. These people just want to survive."

It’s not mean-spirited to say that biology matters. It is not demeaning to proclaim that size, strength, lung capacity, muscle mass, and testosterone levels matter. It is not, to quote Newsom himself, "belittling the trans community," to reject the expectation that girls and young women smile politely while their chances at victory, scholarships, and even physical safety are sacrificed on the altar of partisan politics.

Newsom wants credit for being sensitive and caring—unlike those mean right-wingers who want girls to be protected on the field and in their locker rooms. He’s uncomfortable with how "the right wing talks about the trans community." Is it true that some of the rhetoric on the right is cruel and over-the-top? Of course it is. The same is true of the rhetoric on the left about the female athletes who have publicly objected to being forced to compete against male athletes.

Getty Images/Creative

But Gavin Newsom is in no position to lecture anyone about talking down to people—he is hardly a beacon of kindness when it comes to political rhetoric. He says he doesn’t think it’s fair for biological males to compete in women’s sports, but then immediately pivots to "these people just want to survive." That pivot is deliberate, and deeply dishonest. Basic survival for high school and college students is not dependent upon being able to self-identify into activities and spaces reserved for the opposite sex.

And here’s the thing: this isn’t some anonymous bureaucrat or political newbie fumbling his way through a tough question. This is Gavin Newsom—the governor of the largest state in the country and a man who seemingly aspires to be President of the United States. A man positioning himself as a national leader should not be making ho-hum statements about an 80-20 issue that basically say, "Oh well, it’s unfair but there’s nothing we can do about it."

Governor Newsom owes the electorate a non-bumbling answer to one simple question: What about the girls?